On February 6th, our team paid a visit to Voedselbank Leiden, the place where the vegetables we harvest are so gratefully received. We were given a tour within their impressive distribution center and received more information about their work, requirements, and customer experiences.

 

A vision on healthy nutrition

Voedselbank Leiden aims to provide a healthy and varied diet for all clients. Based on a balanced dietary, customers receive weekly portions of fresh vegetables, dairy and potatoes, rice, or pasta. In addition to their weekly goods, they receive products like cheese, eggs, butter, flour, coffee, and tea once a month.

Voedselbank Leiden distributes donated goods as much as possible. However, some products need to be purchased due to availability and expiry dates. Among these products are the necessary portions of fresh vegetables, which are in short supply during the winter period since the gardens can only harvest to a limited extent.

Peter Klapwijk, advisor in the horticultural sector and board member of Stichting De Groentedeler, immediately responds to this. “This means that it would be very helpful if we could extend the harvesting season in the gardens,” he summarizes. By hearing about the challenges at Voedselbank Leiden, he finds himself challenged to think about new possibilities to facilitate even more support in upcoming seasons.

 

Sustainably grown, high-quality vegetables

“We believe that everyone deserves a proper meal,” says Margriet Nieuwenhuis, board member of Voedselbank Leiden. She indicates how much the clients look forward to the amount of fresh vegetables during the season. Tasty crops full of nutritional value.

We can clearly see the conscious way people think about new ways to profit from vegetables. New initiatives arise frequently to make the most of these crops. For example, Paula van Kesteren, also a board member of Voedselbank Leiden, explains that some vegetables are unfamiliar to their clients. While volunteers are asked how certain vegetables can be prepared, an initiative was started to create simple recipes for specific crops. Well-considered menu’s that are quickly prepared, without the need for a well-stocked pantry with numerous herbs and additional products.

 

Vegetables from De Groentedeler

By now, Stichting De Groentedeler, has been donating fresh vegetables to Voedselbank Leiden for 3 years. By visiting their distribution center, we saw where the vegetables we harvest end up and how they are distributed. This gave the whole team an extra boost to raise funds in order to continue our efforts to donate fresh vegetables.

In 2023, we harvested over 8,000 portions of fresh vegetables, and this number will increase to 10,000 portions in 2024. Together with Mariska Verhulst from the garden Bij Mei, who was also present during this visit, we are committed to providing customers with the varied nutrition they need.

 

Together, we can share all the necessary vegetables

Are you willing to help us share all the necessary vegetables? We would greatly appreciate your donation! Now that we have obtained the ANBI-status, you can even enjoy tax benefits if you donate structurally. We believe that we are stronger together. So, let’s join our forces and ensure an increasing quantity of fresh vegetables donated to the clients of Voedselbank Leiden.

 

Stichting De Groentedeler and Voedselbank Leiden in Leidsch Dagblad!

An article about our visit to Voedselbank Leiden also appeared in Leidsch Dagblad. Are you curious about this article? Click here to read more.

A conversation with our volunteer Chris Oppenheimer

As the oldest volunteer, Chris Oppenheimer enthusiastically dedicates himself to supporting Stichting De Groentedeler. At 80 years old, he cycles back and forth between Leiderdorp and Zoeterwoude to work in the garden. Why? Because he highly values the connection to other people, to the earth and the ability to make a difference for those in need.

 

Volunteer at Stichting De Groentedeler

Through an announcement at Ekklesia Leiden, Chris Oppenheimer became acquainted with Stichting De Groentedeler. An appeal for volunteers to contribute to the garden caught Chris’s attention. He saw an opportunity to be outdoors and work together with others towards a common goal. He decided to sign up.

Since then, he has been working at Bij Mei with great pleasure.

“It’s wonderful to see immediate results. As the vegetables are picked up by the end of the morning, we have to make sure we are ready in time. After some hours of physically demanding work, we can enjoy a cup of coffee with all the volunteers, which is always very enjoyable!”

Sometimes the work is challenging. Drought makes it difficult to cultivate the hard ground, while too much moisture can cause the vegetables to wilt. You have to deal with all the natural circumstances that come about.

 

An eye for the origin of vegetables

Before joining as a volunteer, Chris Oppenheimer had no experience working in a garden. He developed his harvesting and weeding skills under the expert guidance of other volunteers. Gradually he gained insights into the growth process and the origin of certain vegetables.

“While looking at all the shiny vegetables that you find in supermarkets, you have no idea where they come from or how they are grown. By working at the garden, you create an eye for the origin of the vegetables you harvest in direct contact with the earth.”

Just like in the supermarket, the vegetables that look less appealing, are sometimes rejected in the community supported agricultural garden Bij Mei. Chris gladly takes these vegetables home, enjoying fresh meals and discovering new flavors regularly.

 

“It’s idealistic work; we are here to help others.”

Chris Oppenheimer doesn’t know how long he will be able to continue the physically demanding work at Stichting De Groentedeler, but for now, he carries out all the tasks at the garden with great pleasure.

“With a common goal in mind, we work together in a very pleasant environment. It’s nice to stay in touch with each other and with Mother Earth. Moreover, organic farming is something we should move towards for a sustainable future. After all, sustainability is becoming increasingly important!”

We would like to express our gratitude to Chris Oppenheimer for the fantastic contribution he makes to our foundation!

 

Become a volunteer yourself!

Are you inspired and willing to volunteer throughout the next season? Send an email to info@degroentedeler.nl now!

 

Entering the new year by taking conscious steps

Support Stichting De Groentedeler by joining the inspirational audio walks offered by Movemeant. By listening to the audio’s, you are invited to contemplate on every step you take. Guides by Marit, you will consciously look back on the steps you’ve taken in the past year and the ones you want to take in the new year. You can walk at your own schedule, pace and location. While you are doing so, €5 of each contribution will be donated to Stichting De Groentedeler.

 

How to take the next step

When you sign up for the walks, you will receive an email with the link to the audio’s, which allows you to embark on your journey. In addition to the link, you will receive an online workbook. This enables you to review the questions from the walks and start with some additional assignments to help you develop even more insights.

On Wednesday, December 27th, you will receive the audio’s to conclude the year, and on Monday, January 1st, you will receive audio’s to start the new year. All you need is headphones or earphones, a charged phone, and a notepad with a pen. It is up to you to decide when and where to walk. The audio’s will be available throughout the entire month of January.

Movemeant and Stichting De Groentedeler

These audio walks were developed by Marit Nieboer – Klapwijk. Having learned to walk again for the third time, she now coaches and guides people in taking conscious and meaningful steps. She believes it is very helpful to take your time to reflect because we often tend to overlook the things that truly matter.

Marit is a regular to our foundation. She was involved in the initial steps of the ‘De Groentedeler’ project from Ekklesia Leiden. This is the second year she organizes the audio walks as a meaningful way to contribute. Last year, her initiative was a success. With 70 people participating, enabling us to provide one family with fresh and healthy vegetables weekly in 2023.

 

Do you want to join?

You can find more information about these walks at: hetjaaruitlopen 23-24 – Movemeant.

You probably already figured that we work hard throughout the season. We harvest, rinse and sort all vegetables that we donate to Voedselbank Leiden. Yet, people often wonder what a day at Stichting De Groentedeler looks like. What do we do during the season? And what activities are organized around it? You can read more about it in this blog.

 

Our volunteers

Working together to great satisfaction

During the harvest season, volunteers of Stichting De Groentedeler are actively assisting in the community supported agricultural garden Bij Mei. Some are there weekly, others once every two weeks. With a common goal in mind, they work hard to provide the best vegetables to all customers of Voedselbank Leiden. By spending time together in the garden, a bond is created. Even when someone is away for a holiday or other obligations, there is always someone ready to step in. No matter what happens, their work in the garden continues.

 

Before the season starts

Plowing, planting and sowing

Before the season starts, most of our volunteers aren’t actively engaged yet. However, much needs to be done during this period. The soil has had time to rest during the winter, but it needs preparation in the spring.

Mariska Verhulst, owner of Bij Mei, drafts the plans for the upcoming season. She decides which vegetables she wants to grow and where they will be grown. Together with her team, she starts preparing the ground. They turn and fertilize the soil, remove weeds and so on. Once the soil is ready, they proceed with planting and sowing according to her plan.

Meanwhile, the board of Stichting De Groentedeler uses this period to attract new volunteers who can help us during the harvest. We create a schedule and ensure a proper distribution of tasks throughout the season.

 

During the season

A day at the garden

From the moment Mariska signals us that it is time to harvest, mostly around mid-April to early May, a group of four volunteers gathers in the garden every Tuesday. Energized and motivated, they delve into the fertile soil. They harvest, rinse and portion the vegetables. Everything is carefully placed into dedicated delivery boxes, ready for pickup by the volunteers of Voedselbank Leiden. It is physically demanding work, but our volunteers do it with utter dedication and joy!

 

8:30 AM – Time to harvest!

At 8:30 AM, volunteers gather in the garden and start harvesting. On extremely hot summer days, they often initiate to arrive even earlier to beat the heat.

 

10:30 AM – Voedselbank Leiden picks up our harvest

At 10:30 AM, the big bus of Voedselbank Leiden arrives. Volunteers help to load all the boxes with fresh vegetables, which will be distributed among their grateful customers.

10:45 AM – Coffee with all volunteers

Once Voedselbank Leiden has departed, Mariska’s team and all volunteers enjoy a cup of coffee during a well-deserved break.

 

11:00 AM – Garden maintenance

Maintenance is just as important as harvesting. After the coffee break, volunteers assist in keeping the beds clean. A rewarding task that results in a neat weed-free vegetable bed, ready for new crops to grow.

 

12:00 PM – Time to go home

Around 12:00 PM, most volunteers head home. Some stay a bit longer to finish the last tasks, but the main work is done by noon.

According to this schedule, a total of 8,000 portions of fresh vegetables were harvested in the season of 2023. A fantastic result for which we are extremely grateful to our volunteers, Mariska and her team!

 

After the season

Preparing for winter

Even after the season, there’s still much to be done. Once the last vegetables are harvested, the garden is prepared for winter. Vegetable beds are cleaned, and if necessary, turned over to let the soil rest.

Our board members continue to look for funds, ensuring the continuance of our activities over the next season. This is the time to draw up the budget, together with an estimation of the number of vegetables that can be grown next year. We plan, consult Mariska and slowly prepare for a new season to come.

Join us in the garden!

Would you like to contribute by helping in the garden during the season of 2024? That would be great! We can always use an extra pair of hands. Affinity with greenery and agriculture is useful, but experience is not required. Our more experienced volunteers will gladly explain what needs to be done and how to harvest the various crops.

I want to help!

 

As we reflect by the end of 2023, we can hardly believe how far we’ve come since we started as a project within Ekklesia Leiden. Thanks to all the generous donations and volunteers, we’ve tripled our harvest in the past two years. We even have our own website now! By writing this blog, we want to express our gratitude to everyone who has helped us evolve from the project ‘BijMei’ into the foundation known as De Groentedeler.

 

Turning an idea into reality

Growing vegetables for the less fortunate, with this great idea, the sustainability group of the Ekklesia Leiden started the project that would later be called De Groentedeler. As an ecumenical religious community, they purchased 20 subscriptions to harvest at the community supported agricultural garden BijMei in Zoeterwoude. All harvested vegetables would be donated to the customers of De Voedselbank. Ekklesia Leiden called out for volunteers to harvest the vegetables, and the response was very enthusiastic.

“Now, two years later, we are surpassing our boundaries,” says Peter Klapwijk, chairman of Stichting De Groentedeler. “Our harvesting subscriptions have more than tripled, and we continue to aim for more. Both churches and residents of Leiden have contributed to make the growth of Stichting De Groentedeler possible.”

 

The best initiatives for support

As the number of harvest subscriptions grew, Ekklesia could no longer cover all expenses. They started searching for individuals, companies and funds to contribute. Marga Bakker, secretary to Stichting De Groentedeler says, “Immediately, we saw the best initiatives emerge. There was a special offertory organized by various churches in Leiden, we received support from the Konferentie Nederlandse Religieuzen, and we fully enjoyed a vibrant fundraising performance at a local theater. It is fantastic to see how many people support Stichting De Groentedeler, and we are already looking forward towards the wonderful initiatives to come.”

 

We have a website!

With the growth from an Ekklesia project to a non-profit organization, it was time to take the next step. By the end of 2023, efforts were made to create our very own website. Naturally, we are thrilled about this development!

Treasurer Jan Blok explains, “With this website, we can make it easier for people to contribute. It enables the structural donations that we desperately need to continue providing fresh food to those in need. And there is more! Thanks to our newly obtained ANBI status, contributions from our loyal supporters are now even tax-deductible.”

 

The ambitions continue to grow

If there’s one thing that De Groentedeler ignites, it’s connection. It brings people together, not only to harvest vegetables and work in the garden, but also in connecting with everything the earth has to offer. It raises awareness of where our food comes from and what it means if you don’t have access to sufficient fresh and nutritious vegetables.

Over time, more and more people have wanted to help in various ways, often resulting in ongoing support and commitment. This shows us that De Groentedeler is an initiative that deserves a broader platform. After its success in Leiden, we envision it spreading like wildfire across the Netherlands. After all, how great would it be if we could provide fresh and healthy food for all people throughout the Netherlands?!

 

Make your own contribution

Are you as enthusiastic as we are, and would you like to contribute to Stichting De Groentedeler? We are happy to receive your support! You can donate, organize a fundraiser event or help us by becoming a volunteer. If you have any questions or if you want to discuss your idea, please let us know. We would love to get to know you!